To us, this Fox News article and this ABC article cover stuff which is nothing short of astonishing.
On the face of it, they’re both mainly about informing us that, from 1 Sep 2016, a drug called Exenatide, (brand name – Bydureon,) will be on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, which will save the 20,000 Australian patients who have Type 2 Diabetes who use it or who are going to use it $1,600 a year, AND, will mean they only have to inject themselves once a week instead of 2 or 3 times a day.
But to us, much more is raised by the discussion on this subject, the most concerning raised by the fact that Sussan Ley, the Commonwealth Minister for Health, is quoted as saying, “Unfortunately Australia has a very high rate of diabetic amputations, all of which are avoidable!!!???” This rate is variously put at 4,000 to 4,400 a year out of the 20,000 who have this diabetes – per year!!!??? Is this true!!!???
So how long has this drug been around? And while it’s been around, even though it’s not been on the PBS, have patients facing up to possibly of having an amputation been made aware that for $32 a week this possibility could be avoided – by the Australian Governments, by the medical profession, by Diabetes Australia, by any one???
We’d love to know? Or have we got this all wrong?